


I Walk The Line

by HannahBoBannah



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Crime Fighting, F/M, Murder Mystery, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-07-19 16:02:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7368208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahBoBannah/pseuds/HannahBoBannah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeff is accused of murder and Annie is the only person who believes he didn’t do it. With the help of her friends she tries to prove his innocence. A Community AU in which Greendale never happened and the study group met through different circumstances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Context: Annie met Jeff when she was Sixteen, and graduated from University when she was twenty-two.

None of it made any sense. Jeffrey Winger was a respectable man who didn’t seem likely to murder his girlfriend; however, Annie couldn’t say that he wasn’t capable of it. She’d met him six years prior when he’d walked into the coffee shop she worked at and welcomed her with a charming smile. He was kind and confident, and came back every morning after for a coffee before work. They would talk about his job and her future aspirations as she prepared his beverage, and quick as a flash he’d be gone again, leaving her with the brightest of grins. After graduating from University her decision to move back home and work in Colorado was made easy after her long-time friend Britta had offered for them to live together until Annie was able to get herself on her own two feet. After emancipating from her parents when she was fifteen Britta had been Annie's sole support system and she wasn’t willing to give that up so easily, especially when it became apparent to her that Britta needed help with rent in order to avoid homelessness. Ever since moving home she’d worked for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation because the FBI wouldn’t take her without experience. 

She’d been working for five months when they were called to the crime scene. Bedroom walls splattered with blood and a dark haired woman sprawled messily atop the bed, her throat slit from ear to ear. It was the first Homicide to occur in her time working in Forensics and the first dead body she had seen in her life. To say that she hadn’t felt sick to her stomach would be a lie.

“The victims Michelle Slater. Professor at Greendale Community college, Thirty-five years old. She’s not married and has no children, however, has a partner who is unable to be located and is immediately our top suspect.” A detective Annie had never met before was stood in the doorway to the bedroom with a notepad in his hand, watching as she and her colleague Christopher began analysing the scene. He continued to watch as they moved about; taking photos and collecting any evidence that could help solve the case before the Medical Examiners were able to transfer the body from her bed to the body bag. 

“Do you think we’ve got everything?” Annie asked as her eyes followed the bag as it was wheeled out on a gurney, hardly paying attention to what Christopher had to say. Thankfully, he didn’t mind and completely understood her behaviour given that she was still new to the job.

By the time they were back in the laboratory word got around that Jeffrey Winger was her boyfriend and had been brought in for questioning. This revelation shocked Annie who hadn’t seen the man since she was eighteen years old and graduating high school. However, she kept this to herself as she knew that any connection with their prime suspect would get her kicked off the most important case Greendale had seen in a long time. 

They spent all day processing evidence without hearing anything new, and it wasn’t until Annie was leaving that evening that she saw him. It was clear from the evidence that he had spent a substantial amount of time at Slater’s apartment; however, this wasn’t enough to arrest him for murder given that there wasn’t any damning evidence against him. With this on her mind and knowing the kind of man that he was, Annie didn’t believe in any way that he had done what the police were claiming. So, against her better judgement, she approached him.

“Jeff?”


	2. Eyes Wide Open

There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair wasn’t its usual styled mess as he turned to face her, suit jacket in his hands and button up shirt untucked. He looked so exhausted, but still surprised to see her nonetheless. There was brightness in his eyes as he crossed the short distance left between them to pull her into a tight embrace.

“I take it those dreams of yours worked out?” he asked with a smile, but it wasn’t his usual charming Winger smile. Even as he tried to seem like his usual self, it was clear to her that the weight of what was suspected about him was having a detrimental effect on his well-being. He just looked so tired.

“Yeah, they did.” She smiled as their embrace loosened and he was once again looking into her eyes. While she knew it was best to keep her distance, she also couldn’t help but reach out a hand to take his into her own as the little high school crush she’d once had begun resurfacing. “How are you feeling?”

“Do you want the truth or something happier?” was the short reply he gave before pulling his hand from her grasp to run through his messy mop of hair. The longer she stared at him the more she noticed, from the underlying despair in his eyes to the overwhelming stress he was bottling up. It was easy to notice the effects this death was having on him and Annie wanted nothing more than to hug his pain away.

“The truth”

A grim look overcame his features at this, and as he turned his attention to anything but her kind eyes Annie felt a twinge of pain swelling in her heart. “I feel like shit Annie. They think I killed my girlfriend and tried to flee the state which is absolutely absurd. I’ve been at a conference all week and only just got back to Colorado today.” As a good judge of character, Annie knew that he wasn’t lying; there was no way that he could be and with what the evidence suggested so far it was overly clear to her that there was no way it was him that committed this crime.

“Did you tell them that?” she asked softly, stepping on egg shells in order to avoid any possible emotional outbursts. 

“Of course I did, but I don’t think they believed me at all. It was like they were trying to get me to admit something that wasn’t true… They really think I did it, don’t they?” The sadness in his eyes only increased as he watched her expectantly, hoping that she would answer his question even though they both knew that she couldn’t.

“Come on, let’s get a drink.”  
***  
The more he drank the more he told her and with every word Annie was absolutely convinced that it wasn’t him that brutally murdered Slater. He’d only been seeing her for three months before it happened and judging off the way he spoke so lovingly about the woman their three months together had been nothing but happy. Stories of how they met and their first date brought a smile to Annie’s lips as she sipped her fruity drink and listened. While it was true that she’d always had a bit of a crush on Jeff, she couldn’t deny that the relationship he shared with Slater sounded absolutely beautiful. 

“I’m sorry that all of this is happening” Annie said sadly, holding onto his hand across the table. There was a sad smile on Jeff’s lips as he downed the remainder of his beer and made a move for the bar, only to be stopped by Annie’s tight grasp on his hand. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

His jaw dropped slightly as if prepared to hit her back with a snarky reply, but then he was sitting down again with a deep frown furrowing his brow and tears forming in his eyes. Uncertain of what to do, Annie rounded the table and pulled him into a tight, comforting hug, rubbing soothing circles on his back as his strong arms wrapped around her as well. She was trying to think of anything to say that would calm him down when he spoke.

“I’m so sorry Annie, you just reminded me of Michelle.”

“Don’t apologize” she sighed sadly in response, patting his back softly. “Let’s get you home.”   
***  
They shared a taxi back to his place where Annie paid the fare and exited with him. Ignoring the strange look he gave her, she linked her arm around his and led him in the direction of the apartment complex’s front door. Jeff seemed to warm up to the idea of her joining him quite easily and Annie wasn’t certain of whether this was because he craved companionship or simply needed someone to talk to. Regardless of his reasoning, she refused to let him be alone out of fear that he would do something stupid. 

The elevator ride up to his place was short and comfortable as the pair stood in silence, not needing to talk at all as Annie stood closely beside him. Warmth radiated between them as they shared a short smile, hers full of care and his full of sadness, and by the time they had reached his apartment there wasn’t a single ounce of awkwardness between them.

“So, this is me” he spoke softly before motioning to the door before them, however, Annie made no move to leave and instead waited patiently for him to allow her to come in. “You know this isn’t some hook up, right?” he asked instead.

“I know. I’m spending the night on your couch to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.” Without waiting for him to reply, Annie decided to take initiative and slipped her hand into his front pocket where he kept his keys, pulling them out quickly and unlocking the door. Jeff stood in stunned silence as he watched the petite brunette allow herself in and hold the door open for him to join her.

“You really don’t have to do this” he said while passing through the open door and heading straight for the small bar on the opposite side of his apartment. 

“I know, but I want to.” Before he was able to pour himself a glass of scotch, Annie confiscated the bottle and pointed him in the direction of the bathroom. “Now, go shower and get ready for bed. I’ll make you some hot chocolate and set up the couch for myself.”

Annie was impressed by her own ability to make grown men do as she asked, especially Jeffrey Winger who had the reputation of a man that could not be tamed. With a soft smile on his lips he collected himself a towel from the linen closet down the hallway and passed Annie some spare sheets, blankets and a pillow before heading in the direction of the shower. 

Smiling to herself, Annie took her time setting up the couch before heading over to his kitchen where she began brewing two mugs of hot chocolate. While the jug boiled she made sure to text Britta that she wouldn’t be coming home that night, to which the blonde replied with a smug remark about Annie finally getting some; however, instead of dignifying the woman’s comment with an angry reply, she simply ignored the message altogether.

“Happy?” Jeff asked moments later as he emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a plain white singlet and pyjama pants. His hair was still wet from the shower as he joined her in the kitchen, leaning against the island bench. 

“Extremely” she smiled in response before handing him the fresh cup of hot chocolate and motioning for them to sit in the living room. “So, do they want you back in tomorrow for questioning?” Annie asked with a look of seriousness in her eyes. They were sat side by side on the couch she had just made up for herself, and Jeff wasn’t looking at her but she could tell by his body language alone that he wanted to be anywhere but beside her. While they hadn’t spoken about the investigation itself for hours, Annie knew that it was important to ask due to the fact that it had been on Jeff’s mind all evening.

“Yeah; apparently they’ve only just scratched the surface and need me back first thing tomorrow morning. I just don’t understand why they are so certain it was me.” His back was slouched as he sipped the hot chocolate, elbows resting on his knees and his head hung low. He wouldn’t look at her as he spoke and usually Annie would equate this to guilt, but her gut told her that this wasn’t the case when it came to Jeff. 

“I don’t understand it either. But whatever you do don’t hide anything and always tell the truth because they’ll know if you’re lying.” Annie’s words gained his attention quicker than she thought they would and before she could register what was going on he had turned abruptly to face her, the hot chocolate abandoned on his coffee table in the process. 

“That’s exactly what I’m doing and they still think I’m lying. I just don’t know what to do; I'm stating to think it would be easier to run than deal with all of this.” Tears pooled in his eyes and Annie wanted nothing more than to reach out and wipe them away, but she knew how inappropriate this would be and instead chose to place a hand comfortingly on his knee closest to her.

“Look, I’ll do whatever I can to help, but no matter what you have to keep co-operating. If you stop they’ll take that as a sign of guilt, and I know that you know your rights and can plead the fifth at any moment, but they’ll use that against you. Promise me you’ll co-operate and I’ll promise you to investigate this on my own?”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”


	3. On Your Side

Annie had been working Jeff’s case on the sly for a couple of days before anyone realised. She’d worked extra hours to analyse all the evidence and even flirted her way to a copy of the current case file, all the while tracking down and questioning possible witnesses in her spare time. She’d used Britta’s old cork-board from the back of her closet to pin all the evidence up and map out leads, and kept it hidden under her bed so that no one would find it; however, this didn’t keep Britta from stumbling upon it while Annie was at work.

That evening when she arrived home after checking up on Jeff, the cork-board was propped up in their living room beside a confused Britta who was staring deeply at every detail. As she heard the door close, the blonde turned on her heel and pointed questioningly at the object.

“What’s this?” she asked, her frown deepening as Annie casually slipped off her jacket and shoes. 

“An evidence board” was Annie’s quick response as she hung her coat on the coat rack by their front door. This answer didn’t seem to please Britta who stomped around their couch to stand face to face with Annie. 

“Why are you hiding an evidence board in our home? Are you solving a mystery without me?” It confused Annie that this was Britta’s response to the fact that she was doing something shady, however, it wasn’t that unexpected. Britta had been known for her own illegal activity back when she was an activist, but now that she worked in a bar and was getting her degree at Greendale Community College she wasn’t as likely to get involved.

“Yes, but it’s not like I didn’t want to include you, I just couldn’t.” 

“Why?” Britta asked sceptically, her eyes bearing into Annie.

“Because this isn’t some silly mystery like who sabotaged my science project or whether Troy Barnes likes me back. This is an actual murder case that the police are going to completely botch because they care more about pinning the blame on her boyfriend than catching the actual culprit.” Her response seemed to shock Britta into silence, and before Annie could speak again she was turning back to the corkboard to analyse its contents.

“Annie you should have said something. We could get the squad back together again, I’m sure they’d all be willing to help.” Britta’s eyes were wide with excitement as she pulled her mobile phone out of her jeans pocket, and just as she was preparing to summon the group once again Annie smacked the device out of her hands.

“Are you insane?” She asked seriously, ignoring Britta’s look of annoyance caused by the grasp Annie still had on her hands. “Involving the others could get us all in trouble. I don’t want to lose my job because you want to play Detective.”

“Well, you should have thought about that before getting yourself involved.” Britta flashed Annie a quick, sarcastic smile before tugging her hands from the brunettes grasp and bending down to pick up her phone. Instead of sending a group text to the friends Annie hadn’t seen in years, Britta slipped it back into her pocket and motioned for them both to sit. “Tell me what’s going on?” she finally asked once they were sat side by side.

“I really don’t want to get you involved in this.”

“Too bad, I already am.” Britta’s smile was comforting, however, it wasn’t entirely convincing to Annie who saw more flaws in involving the others than positives. In the past, they had only ever solved small mysteries with their friends like who was robbing Shirley’s Sandwiches and what was causing the scratching noises inside of Troy and Abed’s apartment wall. This case was much more important and had greater consequences than anything they had investigated in the past, and she didn’t want to get her friends mixed up in it.

“Britta, could you please just let it go. I’m working on this alone and that’s final.” She made a move to stand and cross the living room to her bedroom, but Britta’s next words stopped her in her tracks, intriguing her more than she had expected.

“Did you know that I’ve known Slater and Jeff for years and could testify that there wasn’t any hostility in their relationship whatsoever?”

There was a smile on Britta’s lips as Annie turned to face her and the brunette hated to admit that she would absolutely love to hear what Britta had to say at this point; however, she knew that whatever it was would come at a price and that price would be to accept the help of their friends. While Annie wanted to decline Britta’s bait, she also knew that whatever her roommate had to say could be important.

“What do you know?”  
***  
As predicted, the following evening their living room was filled with their friends and Abed’s face was up on the television screen through Skype. Shirley had brought leftover sandwiches for snacks and Troy was more interested in eating them than what they were actually there for. While Annie was terrified of bringing Jeff in to join the group, she also knew that she had to in order to get the full story.

“Please be nice guys” she told them once the sound of his knocks filled the room, and as she opened the door they all instantly greeted him kindly. The bright smiles on their lips seemed to scare Jeff who allowed Annie to slip off his coat, however, he entered anyway and sat in the seat they had left empty for him. 

The evidence board Annie had created stood at the front of the room where everyone could see it, including Abed, and by the way Jeff stared sadly at the images of the crime scene she knew that this had been a mistake. Every image was so graphic and confronting, but she hadn’t once thought of how this would affect Jeff, and as soon as she saw the look in his eyes Annie hated herself for forcing this upon him.

“Are you okay?” she finally asked after contemplating whether to take them down or not. 

“Yeah, I’m fine” was his quick reply before his eyes scanned over her friends. “So how are all of you supposed to help me?” he asked.

With a soft smile, Annie began to explain. “Well, we were a bit of an amateur sleuths club back in the day and we all had an important role in solving cases. Britta sort of suggested that my background in Forensics wasn’t enough and I would need the skills that these guys possessed to help you.”

“Yeah, but that still doesn’t explain anything. Aren’t you a student at Greendale?” Jeff asked as he pointed at Britta before his attention turned to Shirley. “And don’t you own the sandwich shop I get my lunch from every day?”

“Sandwiches aren’t the only thing she’s good at. Are you suggesting a woman’s only role is in the kitchen?” Britta asked, offended by the accusation that Jeff had never made. 

“What the hell? That’s not what I said and you know it.” Jeff’s frown only deepened as he turned his attention to Annie. “Can I talk to you in private?”

“Sure.” 

Leaving the others in the living room, Annie led Jeff to her bedroom and closed the door. His eyes seemed to quickly scan the room before his attention was once again on her and Annie couldn’t be sure if she was happy about this or not. It wasn’t until he spoke that she knew.

“Are you actually trying to help me or is this some scheme to screw me over with the help of Mystery Inc. out there?” His voice was full of anger as he stared pointedly at her, and Annie couldn’t understand why but the intenseness of his stare made her skin burn red. As the blush crept slowly up her neck, Annie crossed her arms and feigned annoyance at his remark in order to hide what she was actually feeling.

“I’m not trying to screw you over, I promise. Those guys know what they’re doing and they could actually help if you stop acting like a jerk.” This seemed to calm him immensely, and within seconds his features had softened. 

“Sorry, I’ve just been feeling a bit worked up lately. The papers have started blaming me for Michelle’s death and none of my clients want to work with me anymore. Everyone’s treating me like a pariah and I honestly don’t know who I can trust at this point.” 

“If you put your trust in me I won’t let you down, I promise.” Her smile was soft as she met his eyes and Jeff couldn’t help but crack a smile in return. The blush that once crawled up her skin found itself rising again under his stare, and before Jeff could notice the redness on her cheeks Annie had pulled him into a tight hug, hiding her face against his chest. 

“If you say so.”


	4. The Tie That Binds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update. I've been super busy with uni study as well as rehearsals for a play that I've been cast in and another play that I have taken on the role of Stage Manager for. But, I'm on break at the moment and will try to get up as many chapters as possible so that you don't have to wait anymore. I hope you enjoy chapter three :)

It didn’t take much more than a smile and a promise from Annie to persuade Jeff to co-operate, and within hours they had all proven to be a perfect team. Britta used her knowledge of Greendale and the connections she had made there, along with what Jeff knew of Slater’s relationships with the staff and students to create a list of possible people to interview. While Troy helped Britta to take notes, Abed used his knowledge of film and crime television to try and help anyway he could. It was Annie and Shirley, however, who continued to analyse the evidence board and make a list of suspects based upon what was found at the scene. 

“So, our biggest leads are a hair found on the pillow beside Slater’s body and skin particles found under her fingernails, however, we have to wait for DNA processing to finish in order to determine who it belongs to. If the hair belongs to Jeff but not the skin they will still be able to place him at the scene regardless of the fact that we don’t know when the hair was left there, but a hair isn’t exactly damning evidence given that her neighbours have said that Jeff spent a lot of time at her apartment. But if the skin belongs to him that will be enough for an arrest.”

Shirley sported an impressed smile as she listened to Annie explain, and the petite brunette couldn’t help but smile embarrassedly in return. While Britta had taken her in and became somewhat of an older sister after Annie emancipated from her parents, it was Shirley who grew to become her mother figure. The woman had always been so proud of her accomplishments and was always there to celebrate the big occasions. She’d been there when Annie graduated high school and university, and had heavily encouraged a big twenty-first birthday party with all of their friends. The woman had done everything she could to make sure that Annie knew someone out there was proud of her, and had successfully replaced the mother who had failed Annie in the first place.

“Okay, when will you be finished processing the DNA?” she asked sweetly, all the while trying to avoid looking at the graphic images pinned to the board before them.

“Hopefully tomorrow afternoon, but we’ve also got a lot of backlog to get through before we can even consider touching that DNA.” This gained a look of concern from Shirley who had never quite understood what Annie did for a living. While it was obvious that she dealt with Forensics, the only experience any of her friends had with Annie’s work was through the heavily skewed image shown on television that wasn’t a proper representation of the work itself. 

“But this is a murder case; shouldn’t solving it be more important than this backlog business?”

Trying to keep from rolling her eyes, Annie took in a deep breath and shook her head. “No, that’s not really how it works Shirley. But, even with the backlog we’ll still have results by tomorrow.” Smiling softly, Annie turned her attention back to the others who were still hard at work. It had been months since she was able to see them all in one place, and regardless of the circumstances she couldn’t help but smile. Having spent four years away at University, she had lost touch with the person she used to be and found herself losing contact with her friends in the process, but now that she was back it was becoming easier to find herself again. 

Shirley’s attention was turned to Abed who began explaining nonsense that none of them particularly understood, and as the others slowly began to join her around the television Annie found her eyes falling upon Jeff. He still looked tired, possibly even more exhausted than before, but to her he looked beautiful. While she knew thoughts like this were wrong and there was no way she could allow herself to fall back into the clutches of her high school crush, she also couldn’t stop herself from blushing anytime he smiled her way. 

“Annie?” she heard a voice ask, however, it didn’t quite register in her brain as she watched the way Jeff continued to write, a look of determination in his eyes as he bit into his bottom lip. There was just something about him that always made her heart skip a beat when his eyes met hers and his hands touched her skin. He was everything she had ever wanted since she was sixteen years old, but was always just out of her reach. “Annie?”

“Hm?” was her short reply as she finally tore her attention from him. The others all watched her with knowing smiles; however, it seemed that not a single one of them was willing to talk about what they had just seen. Trying to ignore the fact that every single one of her friends had noticed the way he made her feel; Annie smiled an awkward smile and turned back to the evidence board. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got to get back to my boys, but I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon sweetie” Shirley smiled and hugged Annie who was still feeling much too embarrassed to fully acknowledge her. After a quick goodbye the woman headed off just as Abed exclaimed that he had to go too. Promising to email through the notes he had made, the man signed off, leaving just Britta, Troy and Jeff. 

“Should we call it quits for tonight?” Britta asked with a smile in Troy’s direction, and before Annie could reply he had agreed with his girlfriend. Knowing that there wasn’t much she could do at this point, Annie allowed the pair to go and watched as they crossed the apartment to enter Britta’s room.

“Well that was an interesting establishment” Jeff stated, his eyes following the pair as well before finally turning his attention to Annie once the door was shut.

“What are you talking about?”

“The whole time I was here they acted like they hardly knew each other, but as soon as it’s time to leave they’re absolutely besotted.” Thinking back over the course of the night, Annie was able to see how Jeff was so confused and smiled happily as she knew she was able to clear up his confusion in a matter of seconds.

“That’s because Abed doesn’t know they’re dating. It’s new and they are still working things out, but honestly, I don’t think it’ll last long.” She knew that this statement came from the resentment she still held over the fact that Troy had turned out to have a crush on Britta instead of her when she was eighteen years old and completely in love with him, but it didn’t stop her from saying it out loud. Thankfully, Jeff didn’t look at her like she was being harsh, and instead nodded with a small smile as he reached out to place the notepad he’d been writing on down. 

“I guess we’ll just have to see how long they can make it” he grinned. “So, it looks like it’s just you and me.”

“Yeah” Annie couldn’t help but smile as he stood and began to cross the room, stopping right beside her. There was a moment of silence as they both glanced over the evidence together, Annie uncertain of what to say and Jeff completely lost in thought. But then he was turning to face her, the task at hand seemingly forgotten as he reached out to rest is hands on her shoulders.

“Thank you for all of this, I couldn’t have done it without you.” His words were so soft and sincere that Annie couldn’t help but want to kiss him. His lips were only centimetres away and there wasn’t anything stopping her, but a big part of her knew how wrong it was to kiss him when the love of his life had just been murdered. Instead, she chose to simply smile.

“You don’t have to thank me” 

His hands were still on her shoulders long after she’d expected the warmth of his touch to be gone, and his eyes were still locked onto her own as his hot breath grew closer and closer. From the moment he had flashed her that very first charming smile six years ago she had fantasised about kissing his soft lips and running her hands through his messy hair, but it wasn’t until her fantasies were becoming a reality that she knew how wrong it was. His girlfriend had just died and she was encouraging him to kiss her with her flirty smiles and warm touch, but she’d never expected him to actually do it. 

Pulling back, Annie turned so as not to see him and removed her hands from his chest; however, once she opened her eyes she was bombarded with the images of a bludgeoned Slater and reminded of why he’d come back into her life in the first place.  
“This feels wrong.” 

Jeff didn’t say another word since their kiss and instead simply nodded his head in agreement before collecting his things. There was a pause in time as she turned to see him standing on the opposite side of the room, coat in hand as he watched her, complete sadness in his eyes. While she couldn’t be certain if it were actually her or the images behind her that he spoke to, Annie couldn’t stop the pain she felt from his words. “I’m so sorry.”

She thought about that kiss all night. It was impossible to sleep as her mind thought a thousand thoughts, all about Jeff and the things that she wanted to share with him. She wanted to hold him and kiss him again and again without anything holding her back, but she knew that this was impossible. Jeff had given her a chance, he had kissed her and she was the one to tell him it was wrong. From the experience she had had at University with her boyfriend Vaughn, she knew for a fact that turning a man down once meant never getting the opportunity again. 

By the time she was able to stop thinking long enough to get some sleep her dreams tuned to Jeff, and it felt so real at the time that she never wanted to wake up. Unfortunately, however, her alarm clock had other ideas.

Britta and Troy were still in bed when she slipped out of the apartment for work, excited to finally make some headway on the case by finishing the DNA processing on the hair and skin particles. But it wasn’t until she got to work and heard the news that Jeff was arrested early that morning that she felt the smile slipping from her lips. Christopher had filled her in on everything once she made it to the Lab and explained to her that he’d stayed back late to finish processing the hair that had belonged to Jeff. 

“What about the skin?” she asked, wide eyed as he explained everything. 

“It was your job to process that so we haven’t got the results yet, but the hair was enough for them to justify arrest and they are keeping the bastard behind bars unless they can find conclusive evidence that it wasn’t him, not that it could be anyone else.” Annie couldn’t help but feel anger towards her colleague who seemed to be encouraging her to laugh along with him; however, he seemed to understand that she didn’t find it all quite so funny and left her alone soon after.

“Can you work on the backlog while I finish this?” were the last words she said to him all day before turning to her computer and switching it on. She worked long and hard for hours trying to finish quick enough to get Jeff out, and was so close to having the final results when her phone rang loudly from her bag. Upon noticing that it was Britta on the other end, Annie excused herself from the room to answer. 

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked quickly, looking up and down the hallway before settling against the wall. 

“I’ve been checking some leads and so far the Dean is looking super suspicious.” Annie couldn’t help but frown in response to this.

“How so?” 

“Apparently he has some kind of creepy man crush on Jeff and hated Slater as a result of it. I don’t know if he’d kill a person over it but it can’t hurt to check him out.” 

“Okay, thanks Britta.” After a quick goodbye, Annie ended the call and slipped back into the Lab to retrieve her results. But it wasn’t until she was back at her computer that she noticed that it was dead. Frowning to herself she plugged it back into the power outlet before booting it up again in the hopes that her results had already completed before the computers power source was gone. However, once she was logged back in all of the work she had completed was missing.

“Hey Chris, did you touch my computer?” she asked suspiciously, looking across the room at the tall blonde man who was so heavily invested in his own work that he hadn’t heard her at all. Before this case Annie had trusted the man with her life, however, now she wasn’t so certain.

*** 

Against her better judgement, Annie visited Jeff that evening. She’d begun processing again but it would be days until she was able to finally get results and it was important to her that he knew this. Because of the connections she had at the police department, and the extra short skirt she had worn that morning, Annie was able to get in to see Jeff who was sitting in a jail cell with five other men. 

“Hey Jeff” she said sadly, stepping up to the metal bars and holding them delicately between her hands. The other men all turned their attention to her as Jeff instantly rushed over in order to speak as privately as possible with her, regardless of the fact that nothing could give them the privacy he craved. 

“Please tell me you’re here to get me out” he spoke in a rushed tone, hands lifting to rest atop of hers as he leant his forehead against the cold metal bars. His hair and clothes were completely disheveled and he didn’t look a thing like himself, but Annie couldn’t help but think he looked more rugged and attractive than ever. 

“I wish I was, but someone messed with the DNA results and I’ve got to start all over.” The smile that was barely there to begin with fell from his face and Annie knew that she had to do everything possible to lift his spirits. “But I’m staying all night to process it again and I won’t go home until they’re done. It’s going to take a couple of days but I promise you’ll be out of here as soon as possible. Trust me.”

“I do” was his sad response, but this time there wasn’t anything she could do to put a smile on his face. Deciding that all she could do for him at this point was to get back to work, Annie said a quick goodbye and made her way back to the empty lab where she would stay as long as it took to prove Jeff innocent.


	5. This Heart Of Mine

It took her two and a half days, but by the time she was done Annie didn’t leave the results unattended for anything. Christopher would speak his concern for her health and tell her to go home, but there was absolutely no way she could trust him to be alone with her work when he was the only person who could have possibly tampered with them in the first place. So, by the time the results flashed up on her screen and proved that Jeff was innocent she couldn’t help but jump happily from her seat. 

While there wasn’t enough of the skin to pinpoint who it belonged to, Annie was able to cross-reference and compare the results to Jeff’s whose DNA was a negative match. Due to her findings, the police had to reluctantly let him go.

“Annie, you are the best” he’d said with a smile, lifting her into a hug before excitedly twirling them both on the sidewalk outside his apartment. After his release Annie had texted for him to wait at the café across the street so that she could drive him home on her lunch break, however, it wasn’t until they were out of sight from her colleagues that they were able to finally hug. She had worked so hard to prove his innocence that there was no way he couldn’t thank her every way he knew how. 

“All I did was my job; you don’t have to thank me.” 

“I know” Jeff smiled “But I want to.” There was a moment of comfortable silence that fell upon after this, and Annie couldn’t help but reciprocate the soft smile Jeff saved just for her. With an hour for lunch Annie didn’t feel that she needed to rush as they continued to stand by her car, Jeff slipping his hand into hers and leaning down to place a kiss to her cheek. It was so innocent and sincere but she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t hoped for more. Ever since their first kiss three nights before Annie had constantly fantasised about Jeff’s strong arms wrapping around her body, pulling her in close and kissing her lovingly. All of the time she had spent day dreaming while waiting for results had led her to thoughts of him. Jeff was all she wanted no matter how wrong it was.

“You should kiss me again” she said, surprising them both with how forward her words had been, but this didn’t stop Jeff from lifting his hand to cup the back of her head as he pulled her into a deep kiss. He had her pressed against the passenger’s side door as she allowed her lips to part for Jeff’s tentative tongue. For the first time in her life she was taking what she wanted without regrets and selfishness had never felt so good.

“Did you want to come inside?” Annie had barely noticed that his lips were gone because she was so caught up in the moment, but this didn’t stop her from taking him up on his offer. While a million red flags were raised in her brain about sleeping with a man whose girlfriend had just been murdered and he was the prime suspect, her heart refused to listen and instead of getting back in her car and leaving she followed him up to his apartment. 

Once they were both inside he allowed her to take a seat while he went to get them both a drink. While Annie had opted for water, Jeff had poured himself a glass of twelve year old scotch and brought the bottle with him as he joined her on the couch, however, one he was within reaching distance of Annie their drinks were abandoned on the coffee table in favour of Annie’s kiss. Unlike on the street when they were all tentative hands and barely touching, this kiss was passionate and deep and they both couldn’t help but melt into one another. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this” she whispered as he trailed kisses down her neck unbuttoning her blouse to reveal more skin. Her hands were in his hair as he moved to kneel before her, hands making their way to her belt but stopping abruptly once they were there. With her blouse wide open and bra on display, Annie opened her once closed eyes to see tears in Jeff’s eyes. “What’s wrong?” she asked carefully. 

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” He looked up to meet her stare at this, tears continuing to fall as he loosened his grip on her belt and rested his hands on her thighs.

“That’s the problem, I want to but it just doesn’t feel right. Michelle just died and I’m here with you not even a month later.” Wiping at his tears it was clear to Annie that he was incredibly embarrassed but this didn’t stop him from continuing. “Am I a bad person for moving on so quickly? My brain is telling me to hold on as long as I can to what we shared but my heart is telling me the complete opposite. I just don’t know what to do”

“What is your heart telling you?” She asked hesitantly, resting her small, warm hands over his and hoping he would tell her that she was what he wanted. 

“It doesn’t matter. You should probably get back to work.”

“Okay”. Doing her best not to force Jeff into admitting or doing anything he didn’t want to Annie buttoned up her blouse and quickly ran her fingers through her mussed hair. Jeff was still knelt on the floor in front of her, his hands on her knees and his mind somewhere else entirely. She wanted to stay and comfort him, but he wanted her to go, he had told her to go and she would always do whatever it took to make him happy. “Take care of yourself” she whispered, placing her soft hand to his cheek for just a second before slipping away from his touch and out of his sight. 

Annie allowed herself to look back one last time once she reached his front door, allowing her to catch a glimpse of his sad eyes watching her retreating figure. For someone so close he was so out of reach that it hurt her to even give the idea of them together a second thought. Jeff was never meant to be hers and that was something she had to come to terms with. He was a broken man and whatever had happened between them had only happened because he didn’t know what to do with all the love in his heart for his deceased girlfriend, the woman he had chosen and was so brutally taken away.

She was halfway to her car when Britta called excited about a lead she’d just gotten on their case. Talking a mile a minute she told Annie everything, claiming that Dean Pelton was becoming more and more suspicious with every second that passed. While Britta had always been difficult to take serious, Annie would be lying if she said that the woman wasn’t making any sense. This was why she called in sick for the remainder of the day and drove across town to Greendale Community College.


	6. Turn The Tide

Britta had told Annie to meet her in Study Room F and so when she arrived and Britta wasn’t there she was quite annoyed. Annie didn’t know her way around the campus and needed Britta to serve as guide on their quest to discover whether the Dean was at fault for the murder of Michelle Slater or if he was simply an innocent man with a strange obsession. Choosing to wait, Annie took a seat at the table and pulled out her phone. Chris had left her a message wishing her well and promising he’d finish her half of their work, but after everything that had happened to Jeff over the past few days she couldn’t help but roll her eyes and toss her phone back into her handbag. She’d seen this happen before, cops pinning a crime on innocent people because it was more convenient than actually doing their job. Because she was still quite young and didn’t have the experience to justify getting herself fired for speaking out, Annie had always kept quite like she was told, but this time was different. This time it was personal.

“Hello?” Annie had expected Britta to be the first voice she heard, so when a thick British accent belonging to a male cut through the deathly silence that had settled over Study Room F Annie couldn’t help but jump in surprise. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you” the dark haired, bespectacled man said as he entered the room and approached Annie at the table. As he stood across from her, Annie was glad she had chosen not to sit with her back facing both entrances. Ever since she had chosen to be involved in this case on a personal level she had been on edge, and regardless of the fact that this man was more than likely uninvolved and innocent Annie couldn’t help the way his stare made her skin crawl.

“That’s okay”. She smiled politely and hoped that he would leave her to wait for Britta in peace, but knew that the chances of this happening were slim. 

“You don’t mind me asking what you are doing here, do you? I’ve just never see you on campus before.” His voice was slightly calming and the more he spoke the more comfortable Annie felt in his presence. 

“I’m just waiting for a friend of mine, we’ve got plans and she told me to meet her here.”

“Oh, who’s your friend?” he was sitting down and she wasn’t entirely sure why, but Annie didn’t question him and instead smiled kindly as she crossed her arms over her chest. It was clear by his open nature that he didn’t have anything to hide and this made Annie feel completely welcomed and safe in the presence of a stranger for the first time in her entire life. 

“Britta Perry.”

“I know her, she’s in a couple of my psych classes, wonderful woman, very pretty.”

“Yeah, she’s great but she is the worst at keeping track of the time.” She was checking her watch when he made the offer to walk her to Britta’s latest class that had most likely run over time, and while Annie would usually turn down such offers from strangers this time she found herself saying yes without actually thinking about the possible consequences of her actions. 

“I’m Professor Ian Duncan by the way” he smiled as they exited the study room and walked towards the library’s exit. The name felt familiar but she couldn’t quite place it and so instead of trying to piece her thoughts together Annie simply pushed them aside.

“Annie Edison, it’s lovely to meet you” she sighed as they entered the community college’s main building. The walls were lined with lockers and posters and there was so much to look at that Annie’s attention was everywhere but on the man she had placed all of her trust in. He was leading her further into the school, glancing into classrooms as they walked together and she didn’t question him at all regardless of the fact that simply calling Britta would be an easier solution than that of Ian Duncan. However, five minutes into their walk her phone rang loudly, gaining an odd response from Ian whose attention was immediately on the ringing coming from her bag.

“Are you going to answer that?” he asked to which Annie simply smiled and reached into her handbag. Jeff’s name and photo flashed on the screen and it was clear to her that Ian had seen this by the way he immediately turned his attention to something else when she caught him staring down at the device in her hands.

“Excuse me a moment”. Ian nodded once before continuing on his search for Britta while Annie walked slowly behind him, creating some space between them in order to have a bit of privacy. “Hey Jeff, what’s up?”

“I want to apologise for earlier. It was inappropriate and you didn’t have to deal with that.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t mind.” She assured him as she glanced into the classrooms after Ian just in case he had accidentally missed Britta, however, the further she walked it was becoming apparent that very few of the classrooms where actually in use and most of them were empty. “I’m actually honored that you trusted me enough to share such personal information.”

“I do trust you Annie, and that’s why I know you won’t tell anyone about what happened between us.”

“I’d never tell anyone for as long as you want me to keep it a secret because I understand how it would look, you kissing the woman who cleared your name. I get it.” Her thoughts didn’t exactly line up with what was coming out of her mouth, but she couldn’t stop saying the things she thought he would want to hear because all she wanted was to make him happy. But if it weren’t for the fact that he’d just suffered the terrible trauma of losing a loved one she’d have told him exactly how she felt because she’d held her tongue for long enough. As they continued to talk it was becoming obvious that Ian was listening in on her side of the conversation and she was starting to feel uncomfortable again. “Jeff, do you know anything about a Professor Ian Duncan?” she had asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, British guy, I got him off a DUI once upon a time. Why do you ask?”

“Because I’m alone with him in what appears to be an abandoned wing of Greendale Community College and he is starting to feel a bit suspicious.” There was silence on the other end of the line but Annie continued to walk, her heart beginning to beat faster and faster as she looked into empty classroom after empty classroom. 

“Does anyone else know where you are?” Jeff finally asked her seriously.

“No.”

“Okay, try to keep calm and don’t give him any indication that anything is wrong. Stay on the line and I’ll be there soon, I promise.”

“Okay.” She responded shortly before Jeff continued to give her instruction, telling her to keep an eye out for any odd behavior and features of the building that could help him find her quicker. But the moment she began to scan that hallway for clues she couldn’t help noticing that Ian was nowhere to be seen. “Jeff, he’s gone” she whispered, terror rising quickly within her as she glanced quickly over her shoulder before turning back to where she had last seen him. 

“Is there anywhere he could be hiding?” It was clear that Jeff was trying to keep calm as he spoke to her, but she could hear his car engine starting in the background and she knew that he was doing everything he could to be there to protect her. 

“He could be anywhere.” The sound of a locker door slamming shut behind her caused Annie to turn her attention away from the classroom that Ian had last stood by as Jeff frantically asked her what the source of the sound was. A single student was stood at a locker down the opposite end of the hallway, stuffing books into their bag with a pair of headphones over their ears. It was clear that they hadn’t seen Annie and had no interest in her whatsoever.

“Annie, what was that?” Jeff has asked for the fifth time, finally catching Annie’s attention, but before she could reply she was turning on her heel as a hand reached out to grab her shoulder. Startled, Annie had dropped her phone and stepped away from whoever it was that had grabbed her, leaving her phone and a worried Jeff behind.

“Woah, calm down. I found Britta.” The blonde smiled beside Ian, seemingly unaffected by the clear terror Annie had just faced. However, instead of addressing the situation, Annie crossed the hallway to pick up her phone.

“Annie? ANNIE?”

“Jeff, don’t panic. It was just Ian, he found Britta. Everything’s okay.” The heavy beating of her heart and the deep, red flush of her skin said otherwise as she glanced over her shoulder at the pair who made casual conversation to pass the time.

“Are you sure? Did you still want me to come to Greendale?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be okay.”

“If you say so.” Smiling softly, Annie ended the call and walked back over to Britta who was laughing awkwardly at something Ian had said. However, once Annie was back in their presence Britta had used her as a scape goat and claimed that they had to be off. The women were thankful that Ian had so happily allowed them to go without further time spent with him and with their arms linked together Britta had dragged Annie to where they needed to go.


	7. When Each Day Is Through

Annie could have killed Jeff for caring so much. He wasn’t supposed to be with them when they interrogated Dean Pelton; He was supposed to be nowhere near Greendale to keep suspicions low. However, just as she and Britta were getting somewhere with the Deans receptionist, Jeff had run up to join them. 

“Annie, are you alright?” he asked quickly, concern clear on his features as he placed a hand on her bicep. Britta glanced at them both for a moment before smiling and turning her attentions back to the woman who was only just starting to crack under their intense interrogation. Knowing that it was best to keep her private life private, Annie took Jeff’s hand into her own and led him out into the hallway. Once the door shut behind them she finally spoke.

“I’m fine Jeff, I told you that already. What are you doing here?” She didn’t mean to sound angry, but the stakes were so high and if Dean Pelton was responsible for Slater’s death this was their only chance to catch him and solve the case.

“I was worried about you.”

“And I told you that everything was fine. Don’t you trust me?”

Silence followed her question as Jeff looked down at her, a stern look hardening on his face. He had never looked at her this way and it concerned her greatly that she had elicited such a response from him. This was a look he usually reserved for the courtroom.

“I do trust you Annie; it’s everyone else that I don’t trust. Someone murdered Michelle and…” his words came to a halt and Annie wanted to know more than anything what he was about to say.

“And what?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter.” He wouldn’t look at her anymore, and as much as Annie wanted to question him further she knew that it wouldn’t do either of them any good. So instead she took his hands into hers once again and smiled kindly. 

“How about you wait out here, and when Britta and I are done we can get something to eat? Just you and me.”

“Okay, sounds good.” 

With one last smile, Annie placed a soft kiss to his cheek and slipped back into the Greendale Receptionist Office where Britta had finally broken down the woman enough to let them into Dean Pelton’s office even though he had gone home for the day. After telling her to keep her mouth shut, Britta led Annie into the office and slammed the door shut behind them.

“Isn’t that a little unnecessary?” Annie asked, a soft frown creasing her brows.

This caused Britta to grin as she immediately began rifling through the Dean’s drawers. “I’m just making sure she knows we’re dangerous.”

“Why?”

“So she doesn’t tell the Dean. Now start looking for any clues that will get your boyfriend off death row.” 

Annie wanted to correct her, but Britta had a point. Time was limited for them and it was essential that they found anything that proved the Dean guilty, or even innocent. While Britta continued to look through files Annie decided to hack into his computer and scan through the surveillance footage for any clues to implicate him for the murder. However, after searching through the video files and finding the correct date and hour, Annie was disappointed to see that the Dean had been dancing alone in his office when the murder occurred. Out of curiosity, she checked the rest of the campus footage to rule out any more of Slater’s colleagues. Thus, all the professors Jeff and Britta had listed as suspects were provided alibies. Disappointed, Annie shut down his computer and put everything back to where she found it.

“It seems we’ve been following the wrong lead.”

“What do you mean?” Britta asked with a frown, her excitement dwindling.

“Everyone here has an alibi. This was a waste of time.”

It was clear that Annie was disappointed, and Britta wasted no time messily stuffing everything back to where she found it before following Annie out of the Dean’s office. She offered a sad smile and apology to the receptionist as Annie stormed into the hallway where Jeff was waiting. 

“Did you find anything?” he asked hopefully, only to also be disappointed when Annie shook her head. 

“This is so pointless.”

“Don’t say that” Britta spoke up as she closed the reception door and stepped forward to calmly take Annie’s hands into her own. “We’ve just ruled out countless suspects and the search has narrowed. Take this as a positive and stop looking so broadly at all the evidence.”

“But we already ruled everyone else out as well. All of Jeff’s colleagues were at the conference with him, and now we know that every single one of Slater’s were working as well. Aside from a few random acquaintances that the police already looked into, Jeff is their last suspect and I know he didn’t do it.”

Britta glanced to Jeff for a second, noticing the way his brow furrowed in thought and she couldn’t help but smile as the realisation that he’d made a breakthrough settled in. Without needing to say anything new to calm down Annie, Jeff stepped in with anger clearly brewing within him.

“I think I know who did it.”


	8. Very Easy to be True

They never went to dinner that night. Instead, Jeff, Annie and Britta drove back to the girls’ apartment where they began to compile their evidence against the latest suspect. Jeff had completely forgotten about him since he was such an insignificant part of his everyday life, but an annoying one at that. From the moment Jeff had introduced his colleagues to Michelle the man had taken an unnerving interest in Slater. Every day he would ask about her, wanting to know everything he could, and whenever Michelle would visit Jeff at work he would harass her to the point that she had never wanted to come back. When he had cancelled his trip to the conference Jeff had thought nothing of it. He had believed the man’s excuse that he had too much work to do for a recent case, and if Jeff was being honest he was glad to get away from the man for a week. But now it was all so clear to him. Alan had killed Slater.

The evidence was overwhelming, but it was all circumstantial and Annie knew it. The only way they could prove him guilty was DNA evidence and she knew exactly how to get it. All she needed was a few hairs or some saliva, and earlier that day she had seen the invitation to a work event sitting on Jeff’s coffee table. 

“There is no way I’m letting you near that man” Jeff had practically shouted, frustration and worry clear on his features as Annie practically invited herself to the event. 

“Do you honestly think you can stop me when it’s the only way we can prove your innocence? They aren’t going to stop believing it’s you until we give them evidence to prove that it’s not. If we can get his DNA and it matches the skin particles we’ve got on file there is no way they can say it’s you. They’ll have to believe us.” Jeff’s frustration seemed to ease momentarily as he took a step closer to her.

“I understand that, but why does it have to be you? Why can’t I get the sample?”

“Do you really think he’ll let you get that close?” Jeff had to admit that she was right.

“Okay, fine. But I’m not leaving you alone with him.” This put a smile on Annie’s face and Jeff couldn’t help but smile too. She was gorgeous when she smiled like that, eyes creasing at the edges and lips threatening to rip right off her face if she smiled any harder. He only ever wanted to see her like this, and he was afraid that Alan could take it all away just like he had before.

***

Annie had borrowed one of Britta’s dresses for the party. She’d done her best to dress appropriately for the evening, but also sexy enough to pass as Jeff Winger’s date and attract the attention of Alan. While she was terrified to meet their top suspect, it comforted her to know that Jeff was unlikely to ever leave her side. 

He arrived on time to pick her up and she tried to ignore the look in his eyes when he saw her. A soft grin grew on his lips as he looked her up and down, and she did the exact same to him. It was no lie that she had wanted to be with him ever since their very first kiss, but their relationship had to remain platonic for now; they needed to be all business and no pleasure or else she could never forgive herself. Jeff had just lost the woman he loved and she was using his need for comfort and companionship to her advantage. He was vulnerable and she knew it. 

“You look gorgeous” he smiled and offered her his arm.

They made small talk on the way from her apartment to the car and it was obvious that neither one of them wanted to discuss the plan again. Britta had drilled it into them way too many times for either one of them to forget. Once they were in the car, however, Jeff finally brought up the topic they were both dreading.

“Do you think you’re ready?”

“Yeah. What about you?”

He kept his eyes on the road as he nodded, but his hands were shaking and his knee was bouncing on the spot like crazy. On instinct, Annie placed her warm palm on his knee and smiled kindly. This immediately calmed his nerves, just in time for them to reach their destination.

“Good luck” Annie smiled one last time before they both stepped out of his car. Jeff waited for her to join him as he gave his keys to the valet, and once she was by his side he offered her his arm. Smiling, she slipped her hand around the crook of his elbow and they walked into the building together.

It felt as if everyone’s eyes were on them as they entered the ballroom. Annie understood why, but she couldn’t help the uncomfortable feeling that settled in her stomach as more and more people turned to look at them. Thankfully, Jeff brought her attention to Alan who was sitting at the bar harassing a group of women and not yet looking their way. With nothing but business on her mind every set of eyes that watched them left her mind.

"I’ve got the evidence bag in my purse and it seems like he’s already had plenty to drink so we shouldn’t have too much trouble getting what we need.” She smiled, looking up to meet Jeff’s eyes. With a single glance, it was obvious that he was feeling uncomfortable under the invasive stares of his colleagues and their wives. But Annie knew how to deal with people, and as Jeff’s friend it was her duty to handle the situation. “Try not to worry yourself, I’ll take care of the vultures. You can go get us some drinks.”  
Before he could question her, Annie was walking in the direction of what seemed to be the chattiest group of men and women. As she came to a stop beside them the chatter came to a halt and Annie knew for a fact that they were talking about she and Jeff.

“Hi, I’m Annie Edison.” She greeted with a wide grin. “You must be Jeff’s colleagues.”

“Yes, we are. And who are you?” a particularly friendly man replied, smiling kindly at her before looking around at the rest of their group.

“I’m a friend of Jeff’s. He was quite nervous to come alone tonight, especially after recent events, so I offered to come along too as a friendly face.”

“Isn’t that lovely” one of the woman replied condescendingly, but Annie didn’t have the time or patience to deal with this before Jeff joined them. He was holding a flute of champagne for her and a glass of whisky for himself when she turned to him with a smile. 

“Thanks Jeff.”

“No problem.” 

They continued to mingle, waiting for Alan to finally drink himself blind, and as they did so it was obvious that everyone thought they were sleeping together. While they knew it wasn’t true, it still hurt Jeff that his colleagues would think he could be so heartless to move on so quickly. But Annie also knew that he was conflicted by his feelings and all the times he had had to stop himself from being with her. 

Eventually, they gave up on mingling when it had all become too much for Jeff, and so instead of working the room like he usually would, they found an abandoned table and sat together, taking turns watching Alan. They didn’t talk much as Jeff watched the man work his way through the room, making small talk with that smug look on his face that Jeff hated. All the while, it was obvious to them both that he wasn’t impressing anyone and he was finally drunk enough for them to approach him. Unfortunately, however, Jeff’s boss took this moment to approach them with a wide grin on his lips.

“What are you doing here in the corner Jeffrey?” he asked, slightly concerned, before noticing Annie sitting across the table from Jeff. It was then that something clicked in the man’s brain and he smiled knowingly at Jeff before turning to look at her. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Annie Edison” she smiled, offering her hand for him to shake. However, instead he delicately lifted it to place a soft kiss to the front of her hand. 

“Lovely to meet you Annie, but I’m going to have to steal this guy away from you. There are some very important people I want him to meet.”

“Oh no, I can’t- “Jeff started, but his boss wasn’t having any of it and cut him off.

“No excuses, you can join this beautiful lady once we’re finished. You’ve got the rest of the night to enjoy each other’s company.” With a final smile, the man led Jeff away, not noticing the frantic look on Jeff’s face as he watched Alan approach Annie the moment he was gone.


End file.
